Surakarta - Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta

Next stop… Surakarta! (often called Solo)

The 44 km² city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyalali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency  to the south. On the eastern side of Solo lies Bengawan Solo River. The city is the seat of Surakarta Sunanate Palace. Together with Yogyakarta, Surakarta is the heir of the Mataram Kingdom that was split into two kingdoms in 1755.

My family and I had the privilege to explore Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta; A Javanese Palace with European Touch; an ancient city built by Paku Buwana II. History of this city cannot escape from history Kasunanan Surakarta Sultanate Palace which is the successor dynasty Islamic Mataram Kingdom which was built by Panembahan Senopati.

Its location is in Solo city, only about 60 kilometres east of Jogja, 1.5 hours by car or an hour of train ride.

 Keraton Surakarta Kasunanan has a total of approximately 500 meters X 700 meters, surrounded by a defensive wall (fortress) called the bastion. The wall surrounding the palace is as high as 3 to 5 meters, about 1 meter thick, with a rectangular shape.

Horse-carriage "Andong"

 Keraton Surakarta which can be seen now is not the original form of the building early in the Paku Buwana II. Gradually, the palace buildings have been renovated several times while still maintaining the original spatial archetype. Renovation massively committed during the reigns of X Buwana Paku between 1893-1939. Within the biggest renovation, the palace buildings began to adopt European-style buildings with white and blue shades of colour that became typical of the kingdom.

From the front of the Palace you will see the typical structure of the old town of Java, which is a palace building, is surrounded by the town square, Klewer Market, and the Great Mosque of Surakarta. Entering the front of the palace, tourists can see the building called Sasana Sumewa and a cannon from bronze named Kiai Rancawara.

The Sculptures (like the picture on the left) are seen around Keraton. Those are gifts from the King of Greek, Rome, Vatican, Egypt, and so forth. As a form of honour those are put in front of the Sasana Sewaka. Sasana Sewaka is used as place for the king to sit during royal ceremonies.

Blue and green colours cover the most part of Keraton. Blue represents peace while green represents coolness.

Including in the Entrance fee, we also visited the Museum Keraton Surakarta Sultanate. Where we can witness the legacy objects Kasunanan Surakarta Palace and several temples fragments found in Central Java. In the first room, we can see objects that are never used as a cooking appliance courtiers (servant king), like the cormorant, bowls, and some equipment from the pottery. There are also rooms used to exhibit ancient weapons such as spears, swords, cannons, until the gun used by the ancient family palace. Various art equipment commonly displayed in Kraton Surakarta, such as gamelan and masks, are also exhibited in this museum. Another interesting collection that can be enjoyed is a golden carriage, along the 5-meter canoe paddle, and oversized hats Buwana VI Nails, Nails Buwana VII, and X. Buwana Paku. 

If you want to know the history of the division of the kingdom of Surakarta and Yogyakarta Giyanti Agreement 1755, tourists can see the lineage of the ruler and successor to the Islamic Mataram culminating in Panembahan Senopati, the first king of Mataram Islam.

Located next to the museum is Sasana Sewaka. When first I entered the yard inside the Keraton, beach sand infiltrated my flat shoes. The whole yard was filled by sand. We found difficulty in walking. My dad was the only one who had to put off his sandals because based on the regulation, no sandal is allowed. So, better put on shoes if you don’t want to walk barefoot. And other thing, no shorts. If you wear shorts, they will provide you batik trousers. The Sand was all taken from Pantai Selatan (The South Coast) and Mount Merapi. In this Sewaka Sasana environment, tourists are prohibited from taking or carrying fine sand contained in the venue. 

Sawo Kecik Manila Trees were planted in the courtyard. The amount of the trees should always be 77 because 7 is a good figure for Javanese; represents the place of the God, which is the seventh heaven. 

 

In this area there is also a tower called Panggung Sangga Buwana. There are 5 levels of it. This sacred place is used for the King to meditate and communicate with Nyai Roro Kidul who rules the South Coast. The 5 levels refer to Pancasila. The way a King meditates is based on his religion.

To be able to enter into this tower, a special clothing must be worn. Unfortunately  I did not know of this rule so we weren't lucky enough to explore this mysterious tower.